My Wishlist

Carolina Chimes

Top Ten Favourite Bluegrass Albums of the Year 2018. Original instrumentals, "fresh, invigorating, & powerful, accessible to even the most sceptical of ears." Featuring world renowned musicians with multi Grammy winning fiddle virtuoso, Stuart Duncan.

ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

Carolina Chimes: One of Fervor Coulee Country Standard Times Top Ten Bluegrass Albums of the Year 2018. “One of the strongest bluegrass sets of the year comes from Rudi Ekstein, an absolutely beautiful mandolin player. While his name may not roll off the tongue like his more prominent eight-string colleagues, his latest collection deserves significant attention.”...“These twelve original numbers flow brilliantly, a set of mandolin-based bluegrass the likes we haven’t experienced in a number of years. ... An absolute stunner of a bluegrass album.” --Fervor Coulee, Donald Teplyske

Asheville, NC – Rudi Ekstein has been in the music business for many years as a performer, producer, and studio owner. Now, on his album, Carolina Chimes, Ekstein showcases his mandolin prowess on 12 original instrumental tunes featuring an all-star cast of world-class talent. Some of the artists brought into the studio for this project include multi-GRAMMY Award Winner Stuart Duncan on fiddle and renowned guitarist Jeff Autry for the entire album. Two time “IBMA Bass Player of the Year” Mark Schatz performs on all but one tune, long-time collaborator John Plotnik plays banjo on the majority of the album and steps in on Dobro on four tracks while GRAMMY nominated multi instrumentalist, Patrick Sauber takes the lead on banjo.

“I have known Rudi for a long time. Having lived in California for several years we used to cross paths alot. Rudi, like me, as we have grown older, seems to have a calling to write tunes. Bill Monroe did the same thing. The 12 tunes that Rudi has put together are winners. These musicians that Rudi picked to play on his project are top notch. Surrounding yourself with good musicians is the key, and Rudi, you found the right key.” --Byron Berline (Legendary fiddler, Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys)

Throughout bluegrass music’s 70-plus year history, albums of all-instrumental tunes have been recorded and released, showcasing the amazing level of artistry found in the genre. While singers tend to write songs that require lyrics brought to life by vocalists, instrumentalists of all stripes are prone to write tunes and melodies that let them cut loose and have some fun.

That is the case with Carolina Chimes as Ekstein has put together an upbeat collection of bluegrass barn burners performed with great pickers who help to bring these unique cuts to life. Unselfish and smart, Ekstein lets his collaborators do what they do best here. The result is a fast-paced recording that will remind you of the power of bluegrass music.

"Rudi Ekstein has written a great collection of new bluegrass instrumentals and as writer, producer, engineer and musician, recorded this album and maintained a very high degree of quality at every step of the production process! The mix is wonderful and Rudi's cast of musicians is stellar!" --Gene Libbea (Nashville Bluegrass Band)

“The most obvious parts of everyone’s life have been depicted in a bluegrass song,” says Ekstein. “The bluegrass tunes I’ve written for my records over the past 30 or so years are mostly named after people, events, or something important that happened in my life. That’s just part of my love for bluegrass.”